1976 Formula One season

The 1976 Formula One season included the 27th FIAFormula One
World Championship season, which commenced on January 25, 1976, and
ended on October 24 after sixteen races. This was the first season of
Formula One to pass without a death on the track.

Season summary

In an extraordinarily political season the world championship went to James Hunt by one point from Niki Lauda,
although Ferrari took the constructors' title. Controversy began in
Spain where Hunt was initially disqualified from first place, giving the
race to Lauda, only for the decision to be overturned on appeal months
later. The six wheeled Tyrrell confounded the sceptics by winning in
Sweden, with Lauda third and Hunt fifth.

Hunt won in France and, it seemed, in Britain, but the race had been
restarted after a first lap pile-up and Hunt re-started in a spare car
which was against the rules. He was eventually disqualified after an
appeal from Ferrari, whose own driver, Regazzoni, had also re-started in a spare. Lauda became the official race winner.

Lauda then crashed heavily in Germany and appeared likely to die from his injuries. Hunt won the race and finished fourth to John Watson's Penske (the team's only win) in Austria. Miraculously, Lauda returned to finish fourth in Italy, where Hunt, Jochen Mass and Watson were relegated to the back of the grid for alleged infringements of the regulations.

Hunt won in Canada and in the USA but Lauda took third to lead Hunt
by three points going into the final race. In appalling weather
conditions Mario Andretti won, Lauda gave up because of the hazardous conditions, and Hunt eventually finished third to take the title.

Chris Amon,
drove his last grand prix in Germany, failing to win a single
championship race. The 1976 Wolf-Williams cars were originally Heskeths,
and Williams had left the team by September. The Boro-Ford team was
renamed Ensign-Ford.

Race-by-Race

Race One: Brazil

For the opening round of the season in Brazil, James Hunt took pole position in his McLaren with reigning World Champion Niki Lauda alongside in his Ferrari (which set the tone for the season). Clay Regazzoni in the second Ferrari took the lead at the start. Regazzoni, Lauda, Hunt and Shadow's Jean-Pierre Jarier
battled. Regazzoni and Jarier collided, and the former had to pit for
repairs. Lauda now led from Hunt and Jarier, but Hunt crashed out due to
a sticking throttled, and Jarier did the same a lap later after driving
on some oil in the track. Lauda thus started his title defence with
victory, with Patrick Depailler second in the Tyrrell, and Tom Pryce completing the podium in the other Shadow.

Race Two: South Africa

Hunt took pole position for the second time in two races, with Lauda
alongside again. It was Lauda who led into the first corner, with Hunt
dropping down to fourth behind McLaren teammate Jochen Mass and Vittorio Brambilla in his March.
Hunt was waved through by Mass, and passed Brambilla to take second
after five laps. Lauda led from start to finish to win again, with Hunt
second and Mass third for McLaren.

[Race Three: United States GP West

Well after the South African race, the drivers assembled at Long
Beach in the USA for the third round. Regazzoni took pole position with
Depailler second, forcing Hunt and Lauda onto the second row. The top
four maintained their positions at the start, and almost immediately
Regazzoni began to pull away. Hunt now tried to pass Depailler for
second; they collided; Hunt was out, Depailler went wide, and Lauda
sailed through to second. Depailler kept third until a spin which
dropped him well down the order, but he charged back up to fifth, and
was back in third after Pryce's Shadow, and Jody Scheckter
in the second Tyrell retired after driveshaft and suspension failures
respectively. Regazzoni went on to take a dominant victory, with Lauda
completing the Ferrari 1-2, and Depailler third.

Race Four: Spain

As the European season began, there was a big talking point as the
Tyrrell team entered a new P34 six-wheeler for Depailler. Depailler was
on the pace and qualified third, behind Hunt and Lauda. Lauda once again
beat Hunt off the line at the start and led for the first third of the
race. Depailler, after a slow start, was running fourth behind Mass when
he spun off and crashed with brake problems. Just before mid-race, the
McLarens of Hunt and Mass found another gear and drove past Lauda, but
towards the end of the race, Mass had to retire with an engine failure.
Hunt took his first win of the season, with Lauda second and Gunnar Nilsson's Lotus third.

After the race, Hunt was disqualified because his McLaren was found
to be too wide. McLaren appealed, saying this was due to the expansion
of the tyres during the race, and two months after the race, Hunt was
reinstated.

Race Five: Belgium

Ferrari locked out the front row in Belgium, with Lauda on pole from
Regazzoni. Lauda motored away as the start, with Hunt up to second but,
soon Regazzoni took the place back. The Ferraris raced away, and Hunt
dropped back to sixth, behind Jacques Laffite's Ligier
and the two six-wheeled Tyrells, before eventually retiring with a
transmission failure. Depailler also retired when his engine blew up.
Lauda won, and Regazzoni completed a dominant Ferrari 1-2, with Laffite
taking his first podium.

Race Six: Monaco

In the glamorous streets of Monte Carlo, Lauda took pole with
Regazzoni alongside on the front row again. Lauda led into the first
corner, and was never headed again. Ronnie Peterson's March
got up to second, and allowed Lauda to pull away by holding up
Regazzoni and the two Tyrells. At one-third distance, Regazzoni went
down an escape road due to oil on the track, and Peterson spun off and
crashed on the next lap due to the same reason. This left Scheckter
second and Depailler third but Regazzoni charged back and passed
Depailler. He, however crashed out with 5 laps left while chasing
Scheckter, thus ensuring that both the six-wheeled cars were on the
podium behind Lauda.

Lauda now had a massive 33-point lead in the championship over Regazzoni and Hunt.

Race Seven: Sweden

Scheckter took pole in Sweden, the first for the Tyrrell P34, with Mario Andretti's Lotus second and Chris Amon an amazing 3rd on the grid in the Ensign.
Andretti took the lead at the start, but he was found to have jumped
it, and was given a 1 minute time penalty; as a result Scheckter and
Depailler were officially 1-2. The six-wheelers went on to dominate
(much to the chagrin of some of the other teams) and finished 1-2, with
Scheckter winning. Andretti led on the road until his engine failed, and
Amon was robbed of a sensational podium by a suspension failure. As a
result, third place went to the consistent Lauda.

Race Eight: France

In France, 'normal service' was resumed, with Hunt on pole and Lauda
second, with Depailler third, continuing Tyrrell's strong form. Lauda
beat Hunt off the line as usual, and led the early stages until his
engine failed. Hunt now led with Regazzoni close behind, but Regazzoni's
Ferrari engine also failed. With the Ferraris out, any challenge to
Hunt evaporated, and Hunt went to win with Depailler second. Scheckter
ran third until he faded away with engine trouble, giving John Watson third and Penske its first podium.

Race Nine: Great Britain

The British fans had found a new hero in Hunt, but it was Lauda who
took pole, beating the home hero Hunt into second, and Andretti showing
Lotus's pace with third. At the start, Regazzoni began like a rocket and
was immediately up to second, and was challenging Lauda. The two
touched, and Regazzoni spun. He was hit by Hunt and Jacques Laffite
abut the rest of the field were away safely. However, there was too
much debris on track, and the race was to be restarted. In controversial
circumstances McLaren, Ferrari and Ligier had Hunt, Regazzoni and
Laffite all take part in the restarted race in spare cars.

There was no trouble in the restart, as Lauda led from Hunt and
Regazzoni into the first corner. The top three were unchanged till
mid-race until Regazzoni retired with a gearbox problem, promoting
Scheckter to third. Lauda led comfortably until he too suffered from
gearbox troubles, and home hero Hunt took the lead with 15 minutes left,
sending the home fans wild. Hunt went on to win, with Lauda hanging on
to second and Schceckter third.

After the race, Ferrari, Tyrrell and the Fittipaldi
team appealed against Hunt being allowed to take part in the spare car.
Ferrari took the matter to the FIA (which was ironic since their own
driver, Regazzoni had started in a spare, although he retired), and two
months later, Hunt was disqualified and Lauda was given the win.
Scheckter was promoted to second, Watson had another podium, and
Two-time champion Emerson Fittipaldi got sixth place and a point.

Race Ten: Germany

There were concerns by the drivers in the German GP held at the
legendary Nordschleife about the safety of the track. Ultimately, all
the drivers decided to race, and it was no surprise that Hunt and Lauda
were on the front row, the British driver on pole, with Depailler
heading the second row. At the start, on a damp but drying track, once
again it was Regazzoni who started off best, whereas Lauda was slow and
lost a lot of places. Regazzoni was leading from Hunt but he spun and
dropped to fourth. At the end of the first lap, over eight minutes after
the race started most of the drivers decided to pit for dry tyres. This
left Mass's McLaren leading from Gunnar Nilsson.

On the second lap, Lauda lost control at high speed and crashed into
the barriers before bouncing back on to the track, and the car caught
fire. The car was then hit by Harald Ertl's Hesketh and Brett Lunger's Surtees. The two drivers immediately got of their cars, and soon Arturo Merzario stopped his Wolf-Williams as well and also Guy Edwards
helped. The three pulled Lauda out of the burning car, and the race was
stopped. Lauda was sent to hospital with serious burns and was fighting
for his life.

The race restarted, with the starting slots of Lauda, Ertl and Lunger
left empty. Hunt led at the restarted race with Regazzoni up to second,
but this did not last long as Regazzoni spun off and dropped back, and
Depailler hit the barriers while trying to avoid him. This left Hunt
with a big lead ahead of Carlos Pace in the Brabham,
the Brabham team showing some speed. Soon, Scheckter was up to second,
and Pace was passed by a recovering Regazzoni. Hunt eased to victory
ahead of Scheckter, and Mass completed the podium by passing Pace after
Regazzoni spun off (again).

[Race Eleven: Austria

The news before the Austrian GP was that Lauda's condition was no
longer life-threatening, but there was a low attendance with Lauda not
racing; and Ferrari were so shaken by Lauda's crash that they did not
compete at all. Hunt meanwhile took pole, ahead of countryman Watson and
Ronnie Peterson.
Watson took the lead at the start ahead of Peterson and Hunt, but soon
Peterson was in the lead. Scheckter was on a charge from the mid-field,
and he took the lead on the 10th lap, but then Watson was back in front.
Scheckter battled until he crashed due to a suspension failure, and
Peterson ultimately began to drop back. Watson thus won, the result
being his and Penske's first win, and the podium was completed by
Laffite and Nilsson.

Race Twelve: Holland

Lauda had began his recovery, and was planning to race later in the
season, and as a result, Ferrari were back in business in Holland, but
with only one car for Regazzoni. It was Peterson who took pole, beating
pole king Hunt and Tom Pryce's Shadow.
Peterson led the early stages ahead of Watson, until Watson made a
mistake which let Hunt through. Peterson then struggled and dropped
behind Hunt, Watson and Regazzoni. Watson retired with a gearbox
failure, promoting Regazzoni and Peterson, but the latter too retired
when he lost oil pressure. Regazzoni now closed up on Hunt, bringing Mario Andretti with him, but Hunt held them off, with Regazzoni and Andretti within two seconds of him in second and third.

Race Thirteen: Italy

After the Dutch GP, with Hunt seemingly only two points behind Lauda,
the championship seemed to be a cakewalk for him. But then came the
news that Lauda was going to make an astonishing return for the last
four races of the season (it was so unexpected that Ferrari had to run
three cars for Lauda, Regazzoni, and Lauda's supposed replacement Carlos Reutemann), just six weeks after his accident.

Laffite took pole in qualifying, with Scheckter's six-wheeler
alongside and Pace third. Lauda was fifth, and Hunt along with Watson
and Mass were penalised and sent to the back because of fuel
irregularities. At the start, Scheckter led ahead of Laffite and
Depailler with Lauda down in the midfield, but soon Peterson was on a
charge and took the lead after 14 laps. Peterson's charge also brought
Regazzoni with him, and soon the Swiss was up to third. Scheckter
dropped off, and the top four of Peterson, Depailler, Regazzoni and
Laffite ran closely. Hunt spun off while trying to charge up the field,
and Depailler dropped back late on with engine trouble. Peterson took
his first win in two years, with Regazzoni second, Laffite third, and
Lauda an incredible fourth.

Race Fourteen: Canada

Hunt's disqualification from the British GP came after the Italian
race, and as a result Hunt had only 47 points to Lauda's 64 with three
races left. The Englishman took pole, with Peterson also on the front
row ahead of March teammate Vittorio Brambilla.
As usual, Hunt did not start well, and Peterson took the lead. But it
was not for long as Hunt retook the lead on lap 10, and soon both
Marches dropped way back, and so Depailler was second and Andretti
third. The top three of Hunt, Depailler and Andretti were unchanged for
the rest of the race. Lauda was running fifth until handling issues
dropped him out of the points, and Hunt had closed the gap to 8 points.

Race Fifteen: United States GP East

The penultimate round was in the USA, and Hunt took his eighth pole
of the season, with the six-wheeler of Scheckter alongside, and Peterson
third. As expected, Scheckter took the lead at the start, with Hunt and
Brambilla following. The front two pulled away and battled, with Hunt
passing Scheckter mid-race and Scheckter returning the favour a few laps
later. Hunt took the lead again with 14 laps left and went on to win,
and Scheckter had to settle for second. The Marches were again unable to
keep up the pace, and it was left to Lauda to take an astonishing
podium, just beating Mass in the second McLaren.

Race Sixteen: Japan

The championship was to be decided in Japan, and Lauda was leading
Hunt by three points. In qualifying, Hunt took second, but Lauda was
right behind in third as Andretti took pole for Lotus. On race day, it
rained heavily, and the weather was dreadful with the track full of
water and the rain pelting down. Hunt got a good start for once, and
took the lead from Andretti. Some of the drivers were protesting saying
it is too dangerous to race. At the end of the second lap, Lauda came
into the pits and withdrew, saying that the conditions were too
dangerous. Emerson Fittipaldi and Carlos Pace
were two of the other drivers who also withdrew. At the front, Hunt was
leading but was soon challenged by Brambilla until the Italian spun out
of contention. By mid-race, Mass had jumped up to second behind his
teammate and acted as a protective buffer, but then crashed out. Hunt
led from Depailler and Andretti, but then he began to suffer from tyre
wear, and both drivers passed with 11 laps left. This was still fine as
Hunt was third and needed only fourth to become World Champion. This
became second when Depailler's tyres gave out, and he suffered a
puncture but soon Hunt himself also had the same fate and had to pit.
Andretti now led, with Alan Jones's
Surtees second, Regazzoni third, Depailler fourth and Hunt fifth. On
old, worn-out tyres, Jones and Regazzoni were fighting just to save
their tyres, and first Depailler, and then Hunt with just two laps left
passed both of them. Andretti won, getting his first win in five years,
with Depailler second, and Hunt's third place meant that he was the F1
World Champion of 1976.

Season review

The Driver's championship was won by James Hunt from Niki Lauda, who
had to miss several races as a result of an injury sustained in a crash
at the German Grand Prix.

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